Native American Project

In groups and for homework, students researched a Native American tribe of their choice. What was the tribe like before the Europeans arrived? How did they survive? What were their specialties? What makes them interesting? This project focused on note taking skills and research in addition to teamwork and presentation skills.

Native American MagazineWorking cooperatively, students created a magazine about their chosen Native American tribe that included information on homes, clothing/hair/fashion, food, crafts, and a story/myth from the tribe.

Native American PresentationStudents made a presentation to the class on their tribe, either selling their tribe to a wandering passerby, or reenacting a story or myth from their tribe.

Tribal LifeFor homework, students wrote stories from the perspective of a tribe member and created a diorama of the tribe's environment.

The Wampanoag Tribe

By Michael

Wampanoag Arts & Crafts by Michael

The Wampanoag had many different kinds of art, crafts, tools and weapons. The Wampanoag’s made beautiful crafts and art such as colorful pottery, jewelry and paintings. There pottery was made out of clay. They used the clay pottery as decoration. They also made beautiful jewelry out of quahog shells. The shells are dark purple. Some Wampanoag artists painted traditional Native American scenes. Some children made dolls out of corn husks. Wampanoag’s had weapons such as heavy wooden clubs and bows and arrows. The Wampanoag’s had tools like fish hooks and rock knives. These are some of the many different kinds of art, crafts, tools and weapons that the Wampanoag’s use.

Wampanoag Clothing by Meaghan

The Wampanoag tribe wore different types of clothes and jewelry. They wore breechcloths and leggings. Breechcloths and leggings are cloths that go over your leggings. The Wampanoag’s didn’t wear headdresses like the Sioux. They also wore deerskin mantles during cool weather. Most Wampanoag women wear skirts and leggings. Most Wampanoag people make their clothes out of animal skins. Did you know that the wampanoags hunted animals and took of their skin. The Wampanoag men had more clothes then the Wampanoag women.Wampanoag warriors also painted their faces with red paint and other colored paint and sometimes decorated their bodies with tribal tattoos.

By Paige

The Pueblo Tribe

By Danny

Pueblo Clothing by Medha

The Pueblo Tribe wore many different types of clothes and jewelry. Pueblo men and women both wore deerskin moccasins on their feet. Of course there are some things the men and women wore differently. Men used to wear nothing, but breechcloths or short kilts. Women wore knee length cotton dresses. Sometimes when it’s a special occasion women paint their moccasins in white stripes called puttee around their shins like leggings. The Pueblo people constructed sandals from, yucca, hemp weed and other fibers. They also made jewelry from, stone beads, seeds, feathers, coral, bones, shells, abalone and stones.

Pueblo Homes by Marisa

One of the most important things a Pueblo needs to survive is a home. During there early history, the Pueblos slept in caves, and sometimes on top of cliffs. As time went on, they started to make homes out of sandstone and natural clay. Did you know that Pueblo’s made their houses out of natural clay melted into hard bricks and stone? And logs were plastered onto the houses for the roofs. To make another room, they would just stack bricks on top of each other. Also, most of the Pueblos rooms were almost twelve feet long and their houses were twenty feet tall.

The Inuit Tribe

By Bianca

The Inuit by Gabe E.

Thousands of years ago, Native Americans roamed the earth. Following caribou, and seals for survival. In the winter Inuit’s make igloos out of the snow to keep in the winter. In the summer Inuit’s us tents also known as teepees to keep the cold in tent. The materials used for clothing are caribou skin, and seal skin for the winter. The men of the Inuit tribe go hunting for food to feed the tribe. Some of the things Inuit’s eat are whale, caribou, deer, and seal, plus the crops that the women grow in the summer. So now you know how hard it is being a Inuit native American.

Inuit Food by Sam

The Native American tribe the Inuit’s ate lots of different food. Some of it was seal. They killed it by putting a spear though it. Then they eat it raw. To get food they always live close to a river. That is a lot of fish because they live close to rivers. They also ate caribou a lot. It was easy for them to get it because it is on the ground like then not in the water which is frozen. They like polar bear too. But never eat the liver because it is toxic. It is toxic because it is so high in vitamins. That is the Inuit diet.

By Sam

The Navajo Tribe

By Drexel

Navajo Homes by Drexel

Native Americans lived in lots of different houses. The Navajos lived in things called Hogan’s. Hogan’s are earth houses, made from wood framework packed into clay and mud. Some Hogan’s use sticks to build a structure then uses mud clay and straw to build a roof, these Hogan’s are called summer Hogan’s. Summer Hogan’s are simpler than winter Hogan’s because it’s not as necessary to pack the sticks as tightly that’s because it’s ok if some air gets in. Even though there are different kinds of Hogan’s all Hogan’s have some basic things in common, like how all Hogan’s have the doors facing east pointing towards the rising sun so in the morning the light is able to get inside the Hogan. Each Hogan has a small hole at the top of it for smock to come out of when a fire is lit inside the Hogan. Hogan’s are built in a way so that they could be left behind and easily rebuilt some were else or so they could be taking down easily. That’s because the Navajo would move around and needed a houses that they could move with them a whole Navajo village could take down their houses and be ready to go in less than 2 hours.

The Navajo by Owen

We are the Navajo peacefully located in the southwestern part of the US. We are a more violent tribe, raiding the more peaceful Pueblo tribe. We are master black smiths, weavers, and farmers. We believe in many Gods and legends. “Navajo” means “The People”. Our most powerful God, The Sun Bearer, pretty much gave us our name because The People also goes with The People Of The Sun. One of our myths is about a terrifying snake that never ends. It is called Long Snake. That’s all folks, hope you like the Navajo and check out some of our other writing especially the weapons, arts and crafts, they’re my favorite.

By Jared

Northwest Coastal Tribe

By Gabe A.

Northwest Coastal Food by Audrey

The Native American tribe the Northwest Coastal ate lots of different foods. They ate food from the land and from the sea. These people were fisherman and hunters.

Sea Food The Northwest Coastal ate a lot of food from the sea. They made long canoes for catching whales (see page 5). The Northwest Coastal caught a few different types of fish from the sea; examples: salmon, halibut and cod. They caught walruses, seal, sea otters, and seagulls. The Northwest Coastal people also ate shellfish like mussels and clams. They also hunted sea urchins, seaweed, kelp and sea lions from the sea. That is what the Northwest Coastal people ate.Land food The Northwest Coastal caught animals on land for food as well as from the sea. They hunted deer and black bears with spears and bows and arrows. They also picked nonpoisonous berries from the forests which they lived in.

Northwest Coastal Houses by Gabe A.

One of the most impotent things about being a Northwest Costal Native Americans is your house. In fact, the Northwest Costal Native Americans are great crafts men. What is surprising is, they build 160 feet long houses! There are 2 types of houses: #1 the “long houses” that can be up to 200 feet long, #2 plank houses that can be up to 100 feet- long. In fact, there has been one 1000 feet long that could hold a whole tribe. There are many common things between the two houses. The thing that is alike is that they are all made out of wood planks and the tree trunks, another thing that is common is the interior, it is filled with beds and torches the most families per house would be 10, or 40 people! The last thing that is common is that the rich live in the back and the poor in the front. I have to say the sunken living room in the middle is pretty cool.